On November 14th 2020, we adopted Diego from a local Humane Society. We were assured he was a perfectly healthy, year and a half old dog.
3 months went by and suddenly, Diego had 11 seizures in less than 24 hours. I called the SPCA to receive a copy of his medical file that the emergency vet had requested.
It was at this point, that the woman who led the adoption process, admitted the truth about Diego.
She told me she remembered watching him seize in his previous owners car, prior to them abandoning him.
She told me that she had to carry him into the human society because he was unable to walk post-seizure.
We started him on the medication that he should've been on from the day we adopted him. He would've been on these meds from day one, had we been fully informed.
Just over a month ago, Diego suffered 27 seizures in less than 48 hours.
We were told he likely wouldn't make it and to bring him home and enjoy our time with him. That it would be his last few hours..
He fought
through and didn't seize when we brought him home. We started him on new
medication, on top of the meds he was already on. After a week or so of
adjusting to his new meds, he seemed fine.
Soon after, we made the decision to end Diego's suffering. After 7 seizures in a 45 minute period on one Wednesday morning, we were informed that the most humane decision would be to euthanize. The severity and the frequency of his seizures were getting increasingly worse and would simply be too much for him to handle.
Would this all have happened if the local SPCA had informed us and he had been on the proper meds all along? Or was the initial cluster of seizures he had with us, just a gateway to the damage to his brain? I suppose we won't ever know. I share this to inform everyone that may be considering adopting an animal from the SPCA.
Would we have adopted Diego had they told us about his history? Absolutely! But he would've been on the proper medication since day one in our house. When we brought this issue to the humane society, they told us that they disclosed all necessary information upon adoption and apologized for the inconvenience. This was not an inconvenience, this was neglect.
My intention with this tribute is not for people to stop adopting from their local Humane Society. Each and every animal there deserves a loving home and I am so grateful that I had Diego. He was an Angel for the short time he was in my life.
Had they told me prior, and I adopted him anyways... as I would have. They would've been certain he was going to the right home.
People deserve to know the whole truth when it is known. And those animals all deserved to be adopted and loved. And I hope this doesn't discourage anyone from adopting, but rather encourage them to gather all information before hand.
I understand that in adopting animals from the SPCA, the information isn't always known. But in this case, the woman that led the adoption was fully aware of Diego's seizure condition and purposely withheld that information and lied to me. That is what this post is about.
Please, do not stop adopting animals. Even I will not stop adopting animals. But please, ask as many questions as possible and get as much information as you can to hopefully help your pet... before it is too late.
This is intended to raise awareness. Ask questions, speak to multiple employees to ensure you are getting the right information. Please, do not simply take the word of one person.
I did everything I possibly could to keep him here with me and still miss his sweet smile and happily dynamic personality that shone through despite his illness.
Rest easy, Diego. We love you❤️
